I'm (obviously) inclined towards the cheaper one (which is quieter as well as being advertised as having a more powerful suck) but don't want to find myself with an opening that is too narrow for (future) larger model parts.

I am not an experienced sprayer but am experienced at cheap ways of doing stuff.

I cobbled up a system for about £20 years ago.Basically a kitchen extractor fan (Screwfix now about £20) a large cardboard box to make the booth, some second hand 6" bore flexible tube and a replacement panel filter (about £6). In true Blue Peter fashion with a roll of gaffa tape and a couple of brackets you can knock up something to do the job.Just make sure to buy the correct filter panel to take out the relevant nasties of what you are spraying and blow the cleaned air to outside through a window or cat flap.Block up where the rest of the window gap is and you are good to go.

Also tried using a "Henry" vac cleaner for the suck, with the correct panel filter in where the bag goes - worked ok but the smell was still in the house so reverted to doing the above.

I would go down the DIY route, but I've got Christmas deadlines on to complete two small but complex jobs, plus essential health-related workshop gear to make (e.g. a carpeted, perforated bench-sized sanding-table to be connected to the 3-ph dust-extractor). 2019 is then the year to chip more rust off the marketing machine: a time-intensive and little-loved job but necessary to stop a few financially-comfortable people giving their money to less deserving purveyors of consumer durables...

So what time and energy I have left I just want to spend on making models - my first Open class entry, a new Peanut which doesn't scrape the floor on the static front like my first one, and a 2m balsa slow-aerobatic sloper currently in very short-kit form.

I made my own down draft spray booth that I'm very happy with and it wasn't all that difficult or expensive. I spent way more time researching and planning than I did building. There's quite a rabbit hole you can go down determining airflow requirements, filtering and safety aspects and there's a lot of misinformation on the internet (a cheap bathroom fan is not a good solution)

If there's any interest, I'd be glad to provide pictures, and draw up plans with measurements along with the exact specs.

The air gets pulled through the floor, filtered and exit through two flexible dryer hoses. The layers are as follows (from the flooring down)

I'm (obviously) inclined towards the cheaper one (which is quieter as well as being advertised as having a more powerful suck) but don't want to find myself with an opening that is too narrow for (future) larger model parts.

I forgot to quote you in my first post that your concerns about size is well founded. I've been airbrushing for over 30 years and I can verify that both would do the trick for extracting the dope fumes (I've owned the one from Amazon and have used one very similar to the first link) Both have the turntable which is essential to working efficiently.

It would be totally fine if all you were building were peanut scale, anything larger, at best it will be a frustrating experience.

I would just bite the time constraints worry bullet and DIY a booth. Be very surprised if it took more than am Hours' actual construct time. How long does it take to slice one end off'n a cardboard box, or duct tape on a wee fan unit, slide a piece of dryer duct onto it's designed for it outlet, and subsequently point said tube at a window ? Stuff in a furnace filter, add a cheap turntable and the thing is the equivalent (or better) of some goofy Chinese made contraption. Hardest / most time consuming part of all this is leaving the house to acquire the fan , filter and drier hose. Wayyy easier than building a Peanut

If there's any interest, I'd be glad to provide pictures, and draw up plans with measurements along with the exact specs.

Well Rando, I'd certainly be interested... because, notwithstanding my rationale to just buy one, I've just realised that it would make an excellent collaborative project for my 13yr old to work on with me over his Christmas holidays! A bit of basic maths and applied physics, some hot-glue gun action, etc, etc!

I'm sure loads of other people would also be interested and appreciative.

JohnI have one of the type you mention at £95.00, not sure of the make of mine but there are a few of the same type under different badges. I have to say I have been pleased with mine and it performs at an acceptable level for me. I am only airbrushing and not many of the models will actually fit inside the box but as long as the item is in front then the fumes will be sucked out through the filter and outside. I allways open the window and allow the tube to vent in to fresh air and I also allways wear a decent mask to be safe. My workshop is within the house and so far I have received no complaints about the smell permeating the rest of the house.Hope this helps.John

One thing I noticed about these generic commercial units is that some are designed so two can link together for a wider opening... but you have to spend double quite a lot of money in the first place!!

As mentioned above, Randoloid's version seems like a quick and fun project and can be sized to suit the size of models in my own comfort zone (Peanut up to a max of maybe 30" span), and looking forward to seeing the design.

Coincidentally, the Kid was reading my copy of "Flight Without Formulae" last weekend, and asked me if we could make an experimental wind-tunnel, complete with incense sticks! So we might in fact have two Christmas projects to make from my copious supplies of stiff corrugated cardboard!

Again; a trusty cardboard box.. both ends removed, plane in the middle and a box fan at the other end. Experiment as to whether suck Or blow works best for youOr if really lazy... a box fan and a string to suspend the model in front of the fan

you might want to take into consideration the type of fan you are using if you expect to spray anything that produces flammables.Cellulose Dope, thinners etc ... you can get a build up of gases which ignite with the wrong kind of fan.

I intend to only spray acrylics in occasional very low volumes only, but its worth bearing in mind, and there's nothing to prevent one from removing the filter when the booth is not in use to promote passive clearance of fumes from around the motor.

Interestingly the only technical diagram of a spray booth fan that I've found is the Sparmax one referred to earlier, which shows a 'paddle-wheel' type rather than the 'propellor-type' bathroom fan which I'll be using. Don't know if there's any reason for the paddle type - noise, air-handling, efficiency, speed of operation?

The simple box dust-filter unit in my workshop has a pre-filter at the intake end, the main filter in the middle, and a 'squirrel cage' fan at the exit end. Quiet as it (relatively is) its always a delight when I turn it off!

On the Squirrel cage type of fan, any flammable fumes and dust go through the paddle wheel and out though a filter.The electric motor is in a separate chamber / area behind a seal so fumes etc. can't get into the motor like the they can in a kitchen fan with the motor central to the blades and in the air/fumes flow. So it is considerably safer if extracting flammable fumes.

From my limited experience with my airbrush set up ... using mainly Tamiya acrylics (which work like a dream for me) ... you will find that 90% of your airbrushing effort goes into preparing the work area and cleaning up. It's best to get into that mindset pretty quick as it makes it way more enjoyable. The actual spraying is 10% of the effort.

Fumes are a consideration even with acrylics. Not the paints themselves es but what you end up thinning them with and also what you end up cleaning the airbrush with. Tamika thinners is expensive but undiluted car windscreen wash, neat cellulose thinners are really good for that initial cleaning of the brush. Obviously neat cellulose thinners vapourised might be a concern. You might be interested in one of these ...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spraytidy-Professional-Airbrush-Cleaning-Accessories/dp/B00RVZG4X4

Thanks for explaining the difference John. If gasses can get into the motor housing, then the habit of leaving the motor running with the filter removed after each (relatively brief and low-volume) session should help clear these?

Thanks Mick also for the extra info - and super looking jobs! My kit so far includes that Spraytidy (as well as a Badger 350 and a combined compressor/tank) from Everything Airbrush.

I'm all for trying Tamiya, but having started with Vallejo was thinking of sticking with them, using their thinners and airbrush cleaner, and adding bottles of specific colours as I need them. Each make is probably as expensive as the other!

Following with interest, Jon .... I need to do similar myself (I've already mentioned my 'get by' solution).If you survive to complete a successful spray booth, I might take your lead

I really like the AV acrylics, but I have moved more towards Tamiya in recent times. This could just be that my old collection of Tamiya seems to be lasting on the shelf better than the AV?I do find that Tamiya 'melts' better with its own thinner .... I seem to have less clogs than I did with AV. This could be just down to my own clumsy methods though?

I don't think Tamiya is better than other paints per se ... it's whatever works for you that counts.

I have the Machine Mart equivalent of your Badger and its good for larger areas. For smaller details stuff I'd recommend an Iwata Neo (gravity fed). Both are better units than I am a user so no point upgrading at this point.

Whatever paint you use ... have a look on the 'plastics' forums for alternatives to branded cleaning products. Save you a small fortune. Concentrated windscreen wash cuts Tamiya superbly for initial cleaning of your brush. Just use the branded stuff for the last rinse.